Ok, this was really awesome. I've never had beef short ribs before. They will become a regular in my home. Well, a regular in terms of $5/pound conventionally-raised meat where half the weight is bone. Yea, that's pricey for what you get, but it's totally worth it maybe once a month or so. What you'll need:

Set out the short ribs and lightly salt and pepper each side of the short ribs. Rub fresh thyme all over the ribs.

Brown the Meat

Heat a pan with a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil to 375*F. Sear the meat for 2 minutes on each side. Remove and set aside.

Browned:

Start your Base

I used the oil that I browned the meat in for this step. If reusing this oil freaks you out, use fresh. Good quality olive oil has shown to be resistant to oxidation, so I strongly doubt 10 minutes of heating destroyed the quality of my olive oil, and there's lots of good beef flavor in it (as an Italian, a world where I have to trash 10 minute old cold pressed extra virgin olive oil is a world I don't want to live in anyway!). I transferred this olive oil to my awesome 15" cast iron skillet. Saute your onions until they start to brown. At this point, add your garlic. Continue cooking until onion and garlic become translucent. Keep heat no higher than medium as garlic burns easily and will become very bitter if this happens.

Deglaze the pan with red wine. I just eyeballed it, but if I had to guess, I used somewhere from 2/3 to a full cup of red wine.

While the red wine is reducing on the stove, mix your tomato paste in a bowl with your can of beef stock. Whisk until smooth with a tool of your choice (if you don't have a whisk, a fork is 100 times better than a spoon!). Pour mixture into pan.

Simmer for a few minutes.

Last edited by ChocoTaco369; 08-24-2011 at 03:20 PM.

Don't put your trust in anyone on this forum, including me. You are the key to your own success.

Top with chili sauce and crushed red pepper if desired. I used 1 heaping tablespoon of chili paste and about 2-3 tablespoons crushed red pepper. I hardly noticed the spice at all, but I have an extremely high tolerance so plan accordingly. If you're not a chili-head, you may want to stop at a teaspoon and just add more later if you're not sure. At this point, I added 2-3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, bay leaves and about one tablespoon of oregano. Mix sauce all over ribs and cover. My 15" cast iron pan is airtight with the lid on it. If you have a loose fitting lid, you may need to add more beef stock because the sauce will reduce more, so keep that in mind. Cover and simmer on low heat for 1.5 hours. After 1.5 hours, remove lid and flip the ribs. Cook for another half hour.

Finishing Up

At this point, add your fresh mushrooms.

Cover and cook for another 15-20 minutes or until sauce is desired thickness and mushrooms are soft and juicy..

Prep Your Side Dishes

I served this meal with spaghetti squash, hot cherry peppers, broccoli and fresh cayenne peppers sauteed in extra virgin olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Top with fresh sliced cilantro. Simple, easy and delicious.

Serve!

These ribs were tender, juicy and just all around amazing. I can't say if I like them better than pork ribs because of the texture vs pork, but they were pretty damn good in their own light. I would rarely say that $5/pound conventionally-raised beef where 50% of the weight is bone is worth the cost, but this was. I will be making this again.

Last edited by ChocoTaco369; 07-20-2011 at 10:24 PM.

Don't put your trust in anyone on this forum, including me. You are the key to your own success.

I just tried out rice paper spring rolls, and they're quite good! I had them raw today, but I think I'll try them baked another day. I found this recipe for the baked kind: Baked Spring Rolls.

I admire your patience - I have a tendency to eat as I make my food, haha

Wow, that looks like a solid low fat side dish during a carb cycle. That looks great! Where do you get rice paper at? I've never seen it at Shop Rite. I'm guessing I'd have to go to an Asian market? Ugh, there isn't one immediately near me anywhere.

I will reluctantly admit, I did buy brown rice tortilla shells today at Trader Joe's. I was staring at them. All that's in them is brown rice flour, xanthan gum and...safflower oil. I'm not a big fan of brown rice due to the phytates, but it's not nearly as high as wheat or even nuts when it comes to toxicity. Plus, the only reason why safflower oil is inherently bad is because of the omega-6 content. I eat a lot of fish on carb cycle days, so I could get away with trace safflower oil. They looked tasty enough to try. I could go for a burrito loaded with white rice and black beans. This would be my first in months. I had to pull the trigger!

Don't put your trust in anyone on this forum, including me. You are the key to your own success.

Yeah, I got them at a small, local Turkish shop - not even asian (although you can 100% surely get it there).

Oooh, those ribs look absolutely awsome!
About the tacos, I too, wouldn't sweat it. The safflower oil content should be minimal, and the phytates... well, it's been mentioned before - living 156% free of not-so-good-things is likely to just make us sensitive (aka weak). It's like with dirt, allergies etc. I'm sure I'm not allergic or hypersensitive to anything because I've lived with a lot of animals, fingers in the dirt and a room I had to clean myself (meaning, it didn't happen, so it was always dusty, messy and dirty, lol).
Plus, sheesh, we have to live a little!

Btw, I got a craving for osekihan (Japanese mochi-rice with azuki beans) and plan on making them some time in the future. Don't know how bad beans are, but I guess they don't come close to wheat-

Those ribs! Man they look awesome. I've never had short ribs, but I'll probably give your recipe a try when I do make them. The side dish looks really good too. I've heard that beef neck bones are similar to short ribs. I've been using them for making stock (they're like 1.79/lb here). I usually stick them in the oven at 475 for several minutes to brown them really well before I boil them. I've tried a few bites after the browning step and they're quite tasty.

Those ribs! Man they look awesome. I've never had short ribs, but I'll probably give your recipe a try when I do make them. The side dish looks really good too. I've heard that beef neck bones are similar to short ribs. I've been using them for making stock (they're like 1.79/lb here). I usually stick them in the oven at 475 for several minutes to brown them really well before I boil them. I've tried a few bites after the browning step and they're quite tasty.

I used the same recipe on 6 pounds of pork spare ribs and it was awesome, too. Except I like pork spare ribs better than beef ribs

Don't put your trust in anyone on this forum, including me. You are the key to your own success.